Proposed Villa Soleada Tilapia Farm
Project Investment = $23,891
Project Specifics
Our Consumers and Customers
Three distinct customer groups comprise our market for farmraised tilapia. The nearly 200 children, families, and volunteers who live in Villa Soleada make up the first group. Neighbors who live within walking distance of Villa Soleada constitute the second. Markets and groceries in nearby El Progreso and San Pedro Sula form the third.
Hondurans procure the staples for the plato tipico meal of rice, beans, and cheese only from commercial markets. They supplement this basic fare with a variety of readily available, inexpensive fruits that include bananas, plantains, mangoes, and papaya. And, even in urban areas, families keep small flocks of “free range” chickens that provides eggs and meat for consumption.
They also can purchase expensive beef and pork only at markets. Local production of beef and pork requires fenced areas, feed supplements, and veterinary services that are too costly for most families. Further, Villa Soleada sits in an area about 35 miles from Tela and the Caribbean Ocean. Its limited access to fish products depends on a few local vendors and markets within walking distance.
Our Solution (Product or Service)
Tilapia farming provides a relatively inexpensive food source that is high in protein and that requires little more than clean, aerated water, inexpensive food “pellets”, reliable electricity, and easily trained workers.
Business Model (How We Will Make Money)
142 days after “fingerlings” enter the tanks, they will grow to 2 pounds. Their harvest will provide free food for Villa Soleada residents. Excess production will be sold to Villa Soleada’s neighbors and to greater El Progreso markets for re-sale.
Target market (Our Customers and How Many of Them Are There?)
Sited about 3 miles north of El Progreso, Villa Soleada’s resident population of 200 enjoys comparatively high standards of living, including electricity, sanitary sewer, running water, and well-built permanent houses. Villa Soleada’s children also have access to some of the most advanced, comprehensive schools in Honduras. Villa Soleada’s children at all levels access classes taught bi- lingually, well-stocked libraries, and computer labs. Its schools now incorporate a “cradle to college” paradigm that begins at birth and ends with higher education matriculation.
Nearly 250 families live outside Villa Soleada, but can easily walk / bicycle to it. These nearby families constitute ready customers for fresh tilapia. Five miles from Villa Soleada, El Progreso continues to develop as a growing regional city now approaching 50,000 residents. Its recent population growth reflects a country-wide migration of farmers and rural families to more urban areas that offer jobs, rental housing, and improved living conditions. Its scores of markets and grocery stores provide nearby outlets for sale of fresh tilapia.
Beyond El Progreso lies San Pedro Sula, a city of nearly 1 million. Within less than an hour’s drive, the hundreds of the city’s markets and scores of its grocery stores sell fresh fish.
Competitive Advantage
Villa Soleada’s Tilapia Farm possesses few, if any, competitors. Fresh fish suppliers based in Tela, a small city on the Caribbean coast about 70 miles from El Progreso and Villa Soleada, supply local markets and groceries. The nearest farm-raised Tilapia supply originates in the Lago Yojoa area, nearly 100 miles from San Pedro Sula. Demand for inexpensive fresh tilapia is high. Supply is low.
Management Team
Led by Villa Soleada’s founder, Shin Fujiama, and its resident and volunteer leadership team, Tilapia farm tanks will be sited within the village’s 13 acres near its burgeoning fruit and vegetable plots where tank waste will be piped for use as
fertilizer.
Villa Soleada’s residents include workers skilled in concrete construction. They will build the tanks and install the pumps used to bring fresh water to them. A roofed, open sided structure will assure constant tank water temperatures and provide a platform for voltaic solar cells (with backup storage batteries) that will power the tank circulation pumps.
With construction and installation complete, local residents also will be hired to staff day-to-day Tilapia-farming operations. Once harvesting begins, excess whole fish will be vended to neighbors and transported to El Progreso and San Pedro Sula market and grocery outlets. Freshly harvested fish will be placed in ice-filled containers for local distribution and sale and for delivery to market and grocery customers.
Financial Summary
Tilapia Farm Facility Construction $18,650
tank construction: concrete mix, gravel, steel rebar,
plastic piping; open-sided, roofed tank enclosure;
tank pump for each tank; purchase / install electric pumps
powered by enclosure roof solar panels; roof-mounted solar
panels; batteries for storage of electricity for use at night and
during power outages; excavate reservoir pond; labor
Tilapia Production $5,241
Projected Costs to Produce 2316 lbs in
Three Tanks of Tilapia in a 282 Day Cycle
Initial Start-Up Cost Total $23,891
Revenues from Sales of Tilapia
Raised in Three Tanks in the 282
Day Cycle; $2 per pound $13,896
Projected Net Profit $8,655
24 Month Repayment Schedule
Repayment Begins In the Month Following
the Second 282 Production Cycle
Total Loan Amount $23,891
24 Month Payments of $995
Project Investment = $23,891
Project Specifics
Our Consumers and Customers
Three distinct customer groups comprise our market for farmraised tilapia. The nearly 200 children, families, and volunteers who live in Villa Soleada make up the first group. Neighbors who live within walking distance of Villa Soleada constitute the second. Markets and groceries in nearby El Progreso and San Pedro Sula form the third.
Hondurans procure the staples for the plato tipico meal of rice, beans, and cheese only from commercial markets. They supplement this basic fare with a variety of readily available, inexpensive fruits that include bananas, plantains, mangoes, and papaya. And, even in urban areas, families keep small flocks of “free range” chickens that provides eggs and meat for consumption.
They also can purchase expensive beef and pork only at markets. Local production of beef and pork requires fenced areas, feed supplements, and veterinary services that are too costly for most families. Further, Villa Soleada sits in an area about 35 miles from Tela and the Caribbean Ocean. Its limited access to fish products depends on a few local vendors and markets within walking distance.
Our Solution (Product or Service)
Tilapia farming provides a relatively inexpensive food source that is high in protein and that requires little more than clean, aerated water, inexpensive food “pellets”, reliable electricity, and easily trained workers.
Business Model (How We Will Make Money)
142 days after “fingerlings” enter the tanks, they will grow to 2 pounds. Their harvest will provide free food for Villa Soleada residents. Excess production will be sold to Villa Soleada’s neighbors and to greater El Progreso markets for re-sale.
Target market (Our Customers and How Many of Them Are There?)
Sited about 3 miles north of El Progreso, Villa Soleada’s resident population of 200 enjoys comparatively high standards of living, including electricity, sanitary sewer, running water, and well-built permanent houses. Villa Soleada’s children also have access to some of the most advanced, comprehensive schools in Honduras. Villa Soleada’s children at all levels access classes taught bi- lingually, well-stocked libraries, and computer labs. Its schools now incorporate a “cradle to college” paradigm that begins at birth and ends with higher education matriculation.
Nearly 250 families live outside Villa Soleada, but can easily walk / bicycle to it. These nearby families constitute ready customers for fresh tilapia. Five miles from Villa Soleada, El Progreso continues to develop as a growing regional city now approaching 50,000 residents. Its recent population growth reflects a country-wide migration of farmers and rural families to more urban areas that offer jobs, rental housing, and improved living conditions. Its scores of markets and grocery stores provide nearby outlets for sale of fresh tilapia.
Beyond El Progreso lies San Pedro Sula, a city of nearly 1 million. Within less than an hour’s drive, the hundreds of the city’s markets and scores of its grocery stores sell fresh fish.
Competitive Advantage
Villa Soleada’s Tilapia Farm possesses few, if any, competitors. Fresh fish suppliers based in Tela, a small city on the Caribbean coast about 70 miles from El Progreso and Villa Soleada, supply local markets and groceries. The nearest farm-raised Tilapia supply originates in the Lago Yojoa area, nearly 100 miles from San Pedro Sula. Demand for inexpensive fresh tilapia is high. Supply is low.
Management Team
Led by Villa Soleada’s founder, Shin Fujiama, and its resident and volunteer leadership team, Tilapia farm tanks will be sited within the village’s 13 acres near its burgeoning fruit and vegetable plots where tank waste will be piped for use as
fertilizer.
Villa Soleada’s residents include workers skilled in concrete construction. They will build the tanks and install the pumps used to bring fresh water to them. A roofed, open sided structure will assure constant tank water temperatures and provide a platform for voltaic solar cells (with backup storage batteries) that will power the tank circulation pumps.
With construction and installation complete, local residents also will be hired to staff day-to-day Tilapia-farming operations. Once harvesting begins, excess whole fish will be vended to neighbors and transported to El Progreso and San Pedro Sula market and grocery outlets. Freshly harvested fish will be placed in ice-filled containers for local distribution and sale and for delivery to market and grocery customers.
Financial Summary
Tilapia Farm Facility Construction $18,650
tank construction: concrete mix, gravel, steel rebar,
plastic piping; open-sided, roofed tank enclosure;
tank pump for each tank; purchase / install electric pumps
powered by enclosure roof solar panels; roof-mounted solar
panels; batteries for storage of electricity for use at night and
during power outages; excavate reservoir pond; labor
Tilapia Production $5,241
Projected Costs to Produce 2316 lbs in
Three Tanks of Tilapia in a 282 Day Cycle
Initial Start-Up Cost Total $23,891
Revenues from Sales of Tilapia
Raised in Three Tanks in the 282
Day Cycle; $2 per pound $13,896
Projected Net Profit $8,655
24 Month Repayment Schedule
Repayment Begins In the Month Following
the Second 282 Production Cycle
Total Loan Amount $23,891
24 Month Payments of $995
